


Velvet

by chibichocopaws



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ears, Galra Keith (Voltron), Human Shiro (Voltron), M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 00:21:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibichocopaws/pseuds/chibichocopaws
Summary: Shiro reflects on his time spent with Keith, a member of the BoM, whom saved him from the clutches of Zarkon and his witch Haggar. This time is mostly spent with Shiro wondering what exactly Keith's ears feel like. Priorities may not exactly be his strong suit when stranded on an unfamiliar planet.





	Velvet

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for Shipnuggets whom I was pleasantly given the opportunity to be Secret Santa for in the AtU discord server.
> 
> I must give you a special thanks, if not for your request, I would have never discovered my love for Galra Keith. So thank you!
> 
>  
> 
> With that being said, this will eventually be a small part in a very large AU multi-chapter fic I'm planning. ♡♡♡
> 
>  
> 
> Per usual, this has not been beta'd so please forgive any mistakes.
> 
> And as always, feel free to follow me on tumblr or twitter under chibichocopaws.
> 
>  
> 
> Happy Holidays to all.

His ears were so intriguing. They looked like a purple velvet, shiny and furry. I constantly found myself wondering what they might feel like between my fingertips. Was the fur there as soft as it appeared, or was it courser. Was the flesh beneath warm or cool. In the brisk air of this planet, as they twitched at attention, seeking desperately to pinpoint if random sounds were alerts of danger, or the simple sounds of the winter planet we had been stranded on, I imagined them to be cold.

The thought irked me as we trudged through mounds of pink snow. I wasn't all too familiar with Galra, or their bodies, but I knew I could trust Keith. He had showed me time and time again, in every way he had gone above and beyond to save me. Me… a mere human. I let my eyes rake his face, wondering why for the millionth time today alone. Why me? He seemed oblivious to my gaze, his eyes trained on the terrain in front of us, peering into the pink hills in the distance.

The twitch of his ear brought my gaze back to them, and I bit my lip. He had to be cold. They had to be cold. I frowned. I wasn't wearing much to offer him. A similar insulated suit to his own, but made of dark blacks and greys, where his was muted purples accented with glowing neons. His hood lay at the back of his neck, a sign of his forfeit from the harsh and bitter winds that continuously blew the fabric from the top of his head. 

“There's a storm coming.” He said quietly, his eyes squinting slightly in a glare that almost seemed to beg the climate of the planet for a fight. “We have to find shelter.”

I looked around, as if my mere human eyes could spot somewhere safe to hunker down in, that his Galra eyes had missed. Of course, I saw nothing but mounds of pink snow. A bitter wind slapped us both in the face, like a woman scorned, with brute force that sent a sharp shiver through my entire body. I cringed, pulling my shoulders up and turning my face towards him in an attempt to shield myself from some of the cold.

A slight shiver ran through him as well, his ears shook with the wind, his jaw tightened, and his eyes closed tightly until the wind had stopped mere seconds later.

“How close is the storm?” I asked when the howling of wind finally ceased.

His gaze darted to me briefly, his ear tilting slightly in my direction. “Closer than I anticipated.” He admitted. “Pink is difficult to measure depths in my vision.”

I smiled gently, the motions of my lips seemed to draw his gaze to them only for a brief moment before they returned to the landscape before us. I loved the moments he would share something about himself. They were rare, but I had learned to cherish them, even something as simple as Galra having difficulty seeing in pinks. I chuckled lightly at the ridiculousness the thought seemed to sound in my head. But the laugh was lost in another sharp howling wind, as was apparently his next statement.

“Come.” He bit out curtly, a long arm reaching for my wrist and grasping it tightly. “Ahead.” He trudged through the knee deep pink snow, pulling me behind him. I could feel the warmth coming from his glove even through my own insulated suit, and a feeling of disappointment flashed through me as my gaze lifted to his ears again. He was warm. Even if I had offered him something to shield his ears from the cold, they probably wouldn't need it.

The winds became harsher, blowing the pink snow around, obscuring even my own vision. I wondered how much difficulty Keith had seeing in the swirling pink blanket of snow that blew about before us. I couldn't see his face, but I wished I could. I was no expert on his facial expressions, he rarely showed any. Schooled to be an emotionless warrior. Knowledge or Death. Words he had muttered several times. But in that moment, as I watched his shoulders lift, his back straighten, his ears flick backwards, closing close to his head, I had the distinct feeling he would be frowning. Squinting into the pink. I could imagine his jaw clenching and his brows creasing in determination. He was stubborn, that much I had learned of him.

My arm was jerked suddenly to the side, and I found myself being pulled into a damp rock enclosure. The rock was a light purple, and the bright pink of the snow seemed to light the area, even as the storm encroached around us, darkening the skies to a dull purple. The space around us was barren and crammed. Keith found perch on the wall, crossing his arms and staring out the small hole we had rushed through intently, his left ear aimed to listen.

“You're not cold?” The words fell from my lips without thought. He simply shrugged a single shoulder, giving me no definitive answer. “Humans get cold easily.” I added as an afterthought, still grateful for the insulated suit I was adorned with, even as my nose, ears and cheeks were numb with cold.

His gaze met mine, almost lazily as they slid slowly from the entrance to my face. They traveled from my eyes, to my nose, my cheeks, then landed on my lips for a beat longer than the others before returning to my eyes. “We prefer warmer climates.” He supplied after a long pause. “We are not immune to cold, but we can sustain it. Much like humans.”

I smiled and watched as his eyes dropped to observe the gesture momentarily. “We aren't so different then.”

A cold breeze circled the small cavern through the entrance, and I watched as his eyes squinted slightly, and his ears pulled back closer to his head. He glared towards the entrance, and I fought back a chuckle. He was adorable. I swallowed audibly at the thought, shocked my brain had supplied it.

“You are cold now?” He asked after a long silence, but his gaze remained at the opening.

I nodded, an automatic response to his question, my thoughts still in turmoil at my brain’s admission.

I was shocked when his arms dropped to his sides and he approached me. He was only an inch or two shorter than myself, but I could recall a moment on a different planet where he had been called small for a Galra. I tried not to remember the others I had encountered. Their hulking frames and intimidating heights. It wasn't something I was used to, having a large stature for a human.

His gloved hands reached for my cheeks and all thoughts halted in my brain. His jaw was clenched tightly shut, and his brows creased. His lip curled slightly, as if the contact itself caused him pain. Finally he spoke in a whisper. “What is the lowest warmth a human male can withstand before death?”

I swallowed again. “I'm not sure. I suppose it depends on the body. Perhaps how used to cold temperatures the person is.”

 

He frowned deeply. “Are you close to death?” His ears twitched, one shifting to listen outside, leaving me wondering if there was some sort of danger. “You are….” He paused, as if searching my face for an answer, “Vibrating.” He said finally.

It took my brain a moment to realize what he was trying to convey. “Shivering.” I finally said, feeling the heat of a blush rise on my aching cheeks. “It's a natural defence mechanism of the human body. Motion causes the body to warm.”

“When we are cold, in groups of two or more, we huddle to preserve heat.” 

He pressed his body against my own, letting his arms wrap around my neck loosely, and I was surprised to feel the curves of his muscles against my chest. Surprised with how thin the material he was adorned in seemed to be.

Then I felt it. The softest brush of his ear on my cheek. It was cold, and instantly I felt a wave of guilt flood over me. Of course they would be cold.

I let my own arms travel around his slim waist, and was once again surprised by his actions. His face nuzzled deeply into the crook of my neck, the cold seeped from his skin into my own where his nose touched my suit, and his ear pressed firmly to my cheek. A slight shiver ran down his body, and I tightened my grip in response.

His ear twitched on my cheek, and I closed my eyes. It was softer than I could have ever imagined, and was quickly warming up against my skin. 

These small moments together, often made me forget I was his prisoner. In these moments, I was even bold enough to allow myself daydreams of more.


End file.
